It's funny, I suppose that I've been asked to talk about our junior Senator more often with national media than we've talked about him on Where We Live. An oversight on our part? Perhaps...but I think that in Connecticut, we've all gotten used to Joe.

As I told John and Adaora, ever since 2000, when he was picked to be Al Gore's VP, Joe has shown a remarkable ability to rankle his party. At the time, party officials and everyday Connecticut Democrats worried that he was putting his own political ambitions in front of the party, or the state.

His switch to nearly full-time work on security issues following 9/11, and his support for the Iraq war led to his loss in the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont in 2006. The anger he stirred up in the liberal blogosphere was only intensified by his decision to run - and win as an Independent in November.

But, obviously, Joe was still a pretty popular guy in the state - especially with the huge unaffiliated voter segment - and that can be traced to the one thing he talked about the most: His independence...his bi-partisanship, or non-partisanship. This centrism was tempered with a desire to continue to caucus with the Democrats - and to mentor and support party stars like Barack Obama. Even as recently as March of 2006, when at the annual Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner he talked of Obama in glowing terms, saying he was "looking forward to helping him reach the stars."

By last year - that had all changed as Joe became a key member of the McCain for President team, showing up at stump speeches behind McCain even more than sign-toting veterans. The culmination? His speech at the Republican National Convention, which criticized Obama's readiness, and played to the red-state crowd on a "red meat" night in St. Paul.